Early Bird trains for Mayo Dublin line

The CEO of Irish Rail, Mr Richard Fearns, has confirmed to Labour's Cllr Keith Martin that Mayo will be serviced by additional services to Dublin, one of which will be an early bird train which will have commuters from Mayo in Dublin by 8.50am.  In his letter to the Labour councillor Mr Fearns said that the new service will begin on September 27th.

 

Cllr Keith Martin, who has lobbied continuously for the service, has warmly welcomed the news saying "This is great news for Westport and Mayo.  We now have greater connectivity as a region and as a tourist town. 

 

"In these terrible economic times this new service is vital to Mayo as we compete for business, investment and strengthen our tourist appeal.  The service will facilitate Mayo's 125,000 population in connecting with the world and will make Mayo an easier place to get to.

 

"The new early bird service has great potential for tourism and for business as it means it is even easier than before to get to and from Mayo from Dublin and to make other train and travel connections such as flights and ferry connections.  It is great news for the West."

 

In February of this year, in response to a unanimous resolution proposed by Labour's Cllr Martin, Westport's Town Clerk wrote to all of Mayo's Local Authorities and Chambers of Commerce soliciting their support for the campaign. The campaign received the full support of Westport Chamber of Commerce, Castlebar Town Council and Castlebar and Ballyhaunis' Chambers of Commerce.

 

The campaign was begun by the Council in light of Irish Rail's failure to provide a date for the promised extra rail services on the Dublin-Mayo line. These additional services were to include an early bird service.

 

Cllr Martin concluded saying he wanted to thank all the councillors, councils and chambers of commerce who lent their support to Westport Town Council's campaign.

 

 

086 0691182
 

Back to school allowance for Clothing and Footwear

The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BTSCFA) is available to families on certain social welfare or other State payments to help with the costs of school clothes and footwear. You may also claim for children aged 18-22 who are in full-time education if you are on a social welfare payment that includes a Qualified Child Increase for them. The scheme runs from June to the end of September each year.

If you are getting a social welfare payment (including Family Income Supplement) or a payment from the Health Service Executive (HSE) you are eligible for BTSCFA if your weekly income is below the following thresholds:

Couple Lone parent
1 child €560 €407
2 children €586 €433
3 children €612 €459
4 children €638 €485
Each additional child €26 €26

If you are on a Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) or are getting a Back to Education Allowance, you are also eligible. The allowance is also available to people on employment schemes such as Community Employment, Back to Work Allowance, Rural Social Scheme and Revenue Job Assist if their gross weekly household income is less than €317.43 (the threshold for keeping secondary benefits). If they do not meet this condition they can apply under the normal income limits given above.

The allowance paid is €200 for each child aged 2-11 years before 1 October 2009 and €305 for each child aged 12-22 years before 1 October 2009.

 

If you need a form and live in Mayo give me a shout (086) 0691182 or email councillorkeithmartin@gmail.com and I'll post one out to you.

 

Alternatively you can text for application forms for the allowance simply text FORM BTSCFA to 51909 followed by your name and address.

 

Application forms are also available on the Department website at www.welfare.ie or from lo call 1890 20 23 25.

Update

Hello,

 

I have been busy this week taking care of speed ramps in Carrowbeg Estate and trying to get some new ones for St Mary's Crescent.

 

Other issues have been following up on housing queries and housing repairs and maintenance.

 

We have our first monthly meeting of the new council tomorrow night at 6pm in the Civic Offices.  It will be interesting to see how that goes. 

 

I am also still following up on representations and issues from the campaign so I have plenty of paperwork to do.  Also following up with Irish Rail regarding the promised Early Bird Trains and with the national broadband scheme roll out particularly for Aughagower and Kilmeena where there seems to be a real need for it.

 

I will keep you all informed as I make progress.

 

KM

Micandidate

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